Associated Press Argues White House Cannot 'Discriminate Based on Viewpoints' in Gulf of America Fight

Lawyers for the Associated Press asked an appeals court on Monday not to reverse a lower court’s decision to end the White House’s ban on AP reporters over the newswire’s decision not to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” since the “First Amendment commands no viewpoint discrimination.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from both the White House and the AP on Monday as the White House demanded a reversal of an April order by Judge Trevor N. McFadden, who ordered the White House to end its ban on AP reporters’ access to White House spaces over the decision. The appeals court in June stayed the ruling until arguments this month.

The AP has said it retained the “Gulf of Mexico” name to appeal to a global audience, though it notes President Donald Trump’s executive order changing the name in its stories. The White House banned the outlet from the Oval Office and Air Force One over the matter, saying they did not have the right to access the president.

“The president can make individual decisions,” AP lawyer Charles Tobin told the court’s panel of judges on Monday. “It’s also established in this circuit that if the White House has a hard pass program or admission for all journalists to the East Room or the Brady press room, he must not discriminate based on viewpoints.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/associated-press-argues-white-house-173302326.html